A REVOLUTIONARY robotic telescope, built specifically to find alien worlds, has made its first major discoveries in nearby star systems, scientists have revealed.

The AFP telescope is hunting for neighbouring planets that can support life[LaurieHatch.com]

The eight-foot-wide Automated Planet Finder (APF) is programmed to hunt for rocky earth-like planets orbiting distant stars. It started its self-guided search of the skies in January.

APF has already confirmed the existence of two new systems of planets: four gas giants orbiting a star called HD 141399 and a Neptune-sized planet circling a red dwarf star called GJ 687.

And the team operating the telescope, at the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton, California, will continue to scan for nearby planets that can support intelligent life.

Steve Vogt, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, designed the spectrometer at the heart of the APF system. He told New Scientist: "It's just proof that it works. The planets are starting to come out."

Conventional telescopes scan distant stars looking for telltale wobbles in the way they move that could prove the existence of planets. But APF can automatically cover areas of sky without the need for a human operator.

Vogt explained: "One of the things we've learned… is that nearly every star has planets. Now that you know that, you just need to look at the brightest, nearest stars. Those are going to be the most fun in the next 100 years or so."

Veteran planet-hunter Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley, who also uses the APF added: "We're excited to be searching the nearest sun-like stars, and also many red dwarfs, for planets orbiting close to their host star, including nearly Earth-sized ones."